Businesses that excel in productivity also tend to excel in making money. A productivity plan sets out concrete steps that the business and employees can take to enhance productivity. While there are approximately a dozen broad factors that impact productivity, most of these factors fall beneath the three core parts of a productivity plan: strategic planning, tactical planning and operational planning.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning functions at a very general level. In essence, it seeks to define which goals the business wants to direct its efforts toward, such as productivity, and how to align those goals with the business’s mission. This typically includes performing both an internal analysis of the business and an external analysis of the industry and economic conditions. The information gathered helps the business to understand where it can achieve a competitive advantage and, in turn, where it must achieve better internal productivity.

Tactical Planning

Tactical planning can sound like another term for strategic planning, but it actually represents a fundamentally different type of planning. While strategic planning operates at a general level, considering long-term mission and goals, tactical planning deals with short-term goals and the specific actions necessary to achieve those goals. An automotive parts store, for example, may hold a long-term strategic plan to open five branch stores in other cities. The tactical planning element will set out what needs to happen, and probably who needs to do what, to open the first branch store next year. Tactical planning lets the business owner select the best people and resources for tasks, which improves productivity.

Operational Planning

Operational planning deals directly with how work gets done and who does it on a day-to-day basis. This type of planning can include information on everything from manufacturing facilities to the number of staff necessary. In terms of productivity, this element of planning can expose places where fewer workers can achieve the same output or identify more-efficient work processes, as well as determine where establishing a store or production facility provides the most advantage for delivering products and services to customers.

Other Considerations

One element of productivity, communication, does not lend itself to quantitative measures but can damage productivity when carried out poorly. Planning to meet a tactical goal, for example, hinges on all the people involved understanding the goal and the steps necessary to meet it. If any element is not clearly communicated, the planning can go off the rails. If ineffective communication hinders your business efforts, consider seeking additional training in communicating as a means to improve both your own and your business’s productivity.